The Design Block

If you're looking for the latest in advertising and marketing, design related technology and lifestyle tips, and art or design highlights then you're in the right place. Find all this and more with the Design Block blog.

Some people are so hungry for a Whopper that they don’t just go through the drive-thru, they go through the entire restaurant. And that’s what led Burger King to create this campaign by Lola MullenLowe, promoting home delivery with images of real car crashes that occurred…

Volkswagen’s “Too powerful for TV“ commercial was, apparently, too powerful for television in Australia. The humorous commercial was banned in the country for breaking advertising codes of conduct and for being “unsafe”.

An Australian group has released a new ad to promote organ donation. And as they point out in the ad, organ donation can save lives. However, the number of people who register for organ donation remains relatively low.

UK-based lingerie brand Figleaves has released its latest campaign that includes a cast models of different sizes, shapes and ethnicities. What also makes this campaign special is that Figleaves is the latest brand to ban airbrushing in their ads.

The burger chain Jack in the Box has recently drawn criticism for its new TV commercial. The ad for the company’s new Teriyaki Bowls riffs off the word “bowls” and features not-so-subtle references to male genitalia.

We’ve gone from being exposed to about 500 ads a day back in the 1970’s to as many as 5,000 a day today. But, if you think the saturation of advertisements in cities like London, New York or Japan are heavy now, just wait. An idea that literally goes to the…

Stock photography website, Shutterstock is used by designers and agencies the world over. And to highlight their coming to the rescue of those creatives, Dominican Republic ad agency Cazar DDB has created a trio of witty print ads to promote the stock photography company and its offerings.

For men on social media, the shirtless selfie has become a ubiquitous calling card, shamelessly saying, “Here I am! See me! Notice me! ‘Like’ me!” Clothing brand Fruit of the Loom has taken notice and are worried that men’s lower-quality shirts are being #ripped and #shredded.

This Valentine’s Day, KFC wants you to send your crush a special card. To show your loved ones how much you care, give them a fried chicken scratch & sniff Valentine’s Day card featuring Colonel Sanders.

By now you probably know that the Eagles upset the Super Bowl favourites, the Patriots. But, if you watched the Super Bowl mainly for the new commercials, you probably got to see the best and worst that money can buy.

The popular streaming service Spotify has once again erected a number of billboards that expose the shameless listening habits of some of its users. Titled 2018 Goals, the new campaign proves that clearing out your “recently played” just isn’t enough anymore.

Just in time for the holidays, KFC has unveiled a series of six new limited edition festive bucket design. Forgoing KFC’s typical festive campaign, this year they’ve decided to put their iconic bucket in the spotlight.

Many drivers and pedestrians have become used to tuning out billboard advertisements. But what if those billboards could serve up ads to you based on your vehicle, or even how you’re feeling? One London billboard is trying just that.

We’ve all heard stories of Facebook and Instagram banning posts and advertisements that contain nudity. Their reasoning is that it’s adult content and not suitable for some of their users. Fair enough. However, sometimes it seems as though they pick and choose which posts they take down. The latest…

From intermediate to expert skiers, Snowbird ski resort in Utah is renowned for its challenging slopes. However, one guest found the mountains to be a bit too challenging and wrote a 1-star review of his stay.

We all know that the meat we eat used to be a barnyard animal. And as both an Art Director and a farmer, I know that not a lot of people like being reminded of that fact. That, however, is some of the criticism behind…

Our world is populated by different kinds of people, all with hugely varying levels of intelligence. And while most consider themselves intelligent, it can be very hard to get an accurate assessment of our own intelligence. After all, our thoughts tend to sound smart in…

Pet adoption is a wonderful thing. Ask any pet owner, and they’ll probably tell you that their furry friend has made their family feel complete. Photographer Amol Jadhav along with art director Pranav Bhide took that concept and transformed a brilliant idea into striking ads that are more than…

After a decade of being nearly forgotten, LEGO has rebuilt itself into a global toy juggernaut. Fuelled in part by The LEGO Movie‘s popularity, the company surpassed rival Mattel to become the biggest toy manufacturer in the world. The LEGO bricks are available in 53 different…

Whether you like your vodka straight, on the rocks or in your Bloody Mary, there’s a reason Smirnoff received a ton of buzz recently. In its new transit shelter ad campaign, Smirnoff takes a shot at President Donald Trump.

You’ll hear the phrase often when you enter the advertising industry: sex sells. But do people really buy a product just because it has sexually stimulating imagery attached to it? For this US$100 million OPUS mansion in Beverly Hills, half-naked women covered in gold paint star in a…

Have you ever been sexually harassed on public transit before? If you’re in Mexico City, it happens quite a bit. The United Nations and Mexico City‘s government have joined together to launch this campaign against the soaring rates of sexual harassment on the city’s public transit. How? By…

A transit poster popped up recently in the London Underground that’s turning heads for the wrong reasons. Real estate agency Marsh and Parsons has received severe criticism following the release of an advertisement objectifying women.

Burger King is serious about flame grilling its burgers. So much so that its new print ad campaign has the photos to prove it. Literally burning the house down, Burger King’s latest ads shows its restaurants up in flames; a consequence, according to the ads, of the…

Climate change is already having a significant impact on global ecosystems and communities. Rising average temperatures don’t simply mean warmer winters. Some regions are already experiencing more extreme heat, cold, flooding and drought. To help raise awareness, Leo Burnett Philippines has come up with a collection of print…

An argument can be made that in order to deserve respect from other humans, you need to be human. However, with peoples deep love for animals, it raises fundamental questions about the basis of moral rights.

Stock photos get a lot of hate. And most of time, the annoyance makes sense. We’ve all seen our share of cliché images, and there are lots of weird, creepy ones that leave you wondering who would want to use them. Then you see them thrown in…

In June of this year, Brock Turner, a former student at Stanford University in California, was sentenced for rape. He received only six months for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster at a campus party. As you can probably imagine, many people were understandably…

No industry in the world is as masochistic as much as the advertising industry. We criticize the work we create and condemn the environments in which we create it. And then we denounce the same award shows whose recognition we covet so much. Finally we disparage the clients who…

Did you know that KFC is the number one delivery expert of the food category in Thailand? Probably not. However to celebrate this achievement, the fast food chain created a series of limited edition packaging for its customers.

It’s a struggle that I’m sure many women can relate to: being judged on looks, rather than personality or experience. Well known for its empowering marketing campaigns, this focus of the new ad by Dove.

If you’re in the advertising industry, you probably started out in school sifting through the awards books and dreaming of one day seeing your name on one of those pages. Well, now you might see your name on an award as advertising awards have reached…

Sweden has just became the first country to get its very own telephone number. You can now call “The Swedish Number” at +46 771 SWEDEN (+46 771 793 336), which will connect callers from around the world with random Swedes who have signed up to be de facto…

Yes it’s another April Fools’ Day. For most of us it’s the most annoying day of the year, with people (and companies) trying hard to prank each other. In their continuing spirit of the day, WestJet has once again released its annual April Fools video.

Daniel Swanick has been working as both a freelance and in-house Art Director / Senior Graphic Designer in the Greater Toronto Area for over ten years. He looks at every project from both a creative and strategic point-of-view to deliver engaging, conceptually driven ideas.